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I don't really consider myself a vain woman. I've accepted my silvery hair with good grace. I'm working on reducing my extra poundage with the always effective "eat less, move more" strategy, and have accepted that doing so will probably be a life-long endeavor. I've accepted that I can't wear makeup every day due to my rosacea. I've resigned myself to wearing frumpy shoes in the short term to resolve my plantar fasciitis. These things are just the prices I'm currently paying for being middle aged, and since middle age has also brought me happiness, contentment, financial security, confidence and decent relationships, I'm thinking that's a pretty darn good trade.

And yet.

There is one thing I dislike about getting older, that I haven't been able to accept with good grace, and that's my glabellar scowl lines. For those of you who don't know what those are, don't feel bad - I didn't know what they were called either. Here's a photo of them from the Interwebs:

I tend to scowl when I concentrate, and have since I was a child. As a result, I have fairly deep lines between my brows that have become a bit more permanent than I like over the years. In general, wrinkles don't bother me that much. Rosacea notwithstanding, I have fairly decent skin, and while years of smoking has done its share of damage, I'm generally satisfied with how I'm aging. But THESE wrinkles - THESE wrinkles make me look like I'm angry all the time.

Now, I've been told that I'm a bit intimidating in my professional life. I'm sure that part of this is the natural result of working as a woman in a male dominated field my entire adult life, but there's also my natural inclination to beat stupid people with sticks. Either way, I don't need any help from my wrinkles in making people approach me with fear and trembling.

Plus there's the fact that I'm NOT angry all the time. Only when I encounter stupid people who need to be beat with a stick.

So I got a referral from my Hot Cousin (who is the purveyor of such knowledge in our family), and on Friday of last week I went off to visit the RN who is the keeper of the Botulism. She injected my forehead with neurotoxin and now, less than a week later, I no longer have glabellar scowl lines marring my pleasant visage.

I don't feel paralyzed, and I think there's still sufficient elasticity and animation in my face to make it look natural. I just don't look angry anymore.

Better living through Botulism. I'm satisfied, and I can't believe it took me so long to take the plunge.

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comments:

It's good to know it works for you - I have scowl lines that easily outscowl you any day of the year. They make me look bitter and I'm not bitter (most of the time anyway). Hmmmm. Can I have an after-picture? ;-D

The wrinkles around my eyes are few, but I don't mind them (I've always thought crow's feet were kinda cute). But when I lost my car many moons ago and started taking the bus, my days in the sun waiting at bus stops took their toll and etched wrinkles into my forehead, as well as the glabellar scowl lines you mentioned.

This does not please me. Especially since the gap between my real age and my guessed age decreased from ten years younger to five years younger.

However, I don't see myself getting botox. I have a horror of any medical procedure that isn't strictly necessary for my health and quality of life. Also, the thought of injecting botulism into my face squicks me right out.

So I shall have to just learn to love and embrace my wrinkles, wherever they may occur.

(And thank my genetics that members of my family tend to look younger than our years, even with wrinkles.)

If you're happy with the results, Janiece, enjoy it enough for both of us!

I've been in the Army 3 going on 4 years, I already have "scowl lines" as my mother calls it ( Im 24). I encounter a lot of stupid people.... maybe I need to invest in botulism stock. I can see myself needing this before too long if I plan to stay in.

You are courageous! The thought of that scares me... sadly, my issue is not with scowl lines but with permanent dark circles. (Which my sister and I both lament in our ownselves but never notice on each other... LOL.) It's not easily fixed, so occasional makeup is all I do.

About Me

I am a Hot Chick living in Castle Rock, CO with my fabulous family. We have a rescue dog named "Jackson," and she's a Basenji/Shepherd mix. She's something of a head case, but we love her. I'm a U.S. Navy vet, and I currently work as an Enterprise Solutions Architect, specializing in VoIP and multimedia contact center design. I care about social justice, libraries, science, the U.S. Constitution and the military. I'm a tax and spend liberal in a largely red county, but I try not to be stabby about it. I have a little resale side business called "Alastrina Enterprises." Stupidity, cupidity and wanton assholery piss me off, and I'm more than a little soft when it comes to dogs and those who serve others. I blog about whatever I feel like. I use foul language, so if that sort of thing offends you, feel free to fuck off now - if I'm unwilling to clean up my language for my fabulous Great Auntie Margie, I'm unlikely to do so for you. Newcomers are welcome here, especially those who disagree with me, but trolling and spamming will be met with the Shovel of Doom™.